Money stakes rise for those who 'squeal' on the corrupt
The Assets Examination Com-mittee will offer cash rewards amounting to 25 per cent of seized ill-gotten wealth for tips that
lead to the conviction of corrupt politicians, AEC spokesman Sak Korsaengruang said yesterday.
The offer would also apply to people holding assets for politicians in an attempt to avoid legal provisions that limit shareholding by Cabinet members, he said. Informants who were also nominees holding such ill-gotten assets would also be entitled to the bounty. Sak said the committee had issued new regulations about the cash rewards. He added the offer would apply to informants only - and not graft busters - unlike similar rewards offered by other state agencies like the Customs Department. In the Customs Department's case, informants receive 30 per cent of the funds surrendered to the state, and arresting officials would get another 25 per cent, he explained. Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra was accused of having his domestic workers hold his shares in a bid to avoid the law that limits shareholding by Cabinet members. Meanwhile, the Assets Exami-nation Committee agreed to defer today's hearing on Shin Corp deals involving children of the deposed premier and a witness until next month, committee spokesman Sak Korsaengruang said yesterday. "The AEC has allowed the defence extra time for preparation and expects the upcoming hearing to shed light on the Shin deal as the defence statements will be presented behind closed doors and without the presence of lawyers," Sak said. Thaksin's two children, Panthongtae and Pinthongta, will give their respective statements on January 10, and defence witness Kanchanapa Honghern is due to testify on January 24. Kanchanapa is the private secretary to Thaksin's wife, Pojaman. The three will appear before the Viroj Laohaphan panel. Since the investigation is at the fact-finding stage, the panel will solicit statements directly from individuals involved in the deal and not their lawyers. Commenting on news reports that the defence team wanted Thaksin to return to Thailand to testify, Sak said the deposed premier could choose either to submit a statement in writing or appear in person once he was indicted. At the moment, there was no graft indictment against Thaksin as graft investigators were at various stages of building up their cases, he said.
Budsarakham Sinlapalavan, Bancha Khaengkhan The Nation
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